Posts Tagged ‘John Boehner’

Casino billionaire vows to double his push to shape Washington DC

After contributing as much as $150 million to Republican campaigns and causes to become the top GOP political donor this year, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson isn’t putting away his checkbook.

Instead, the billionaire casino magnate has vowed to double his contributions during the 2016 wide-open White House contest, becoming an unparalleled political power broker courted by Republican leaders on Capitol Hill and presidential hopefuls alike.

Adelson’s millions also may help rebuild the Republican Party in Nevada and finance efforts to reach out to Hispanics, a key voting bloc, GOP insiders and fundraisers say.

“By the time 2015 rolls around, Adelson will probably be on a first-name basis with every Republican candidate serious about pursuing the nomination,” said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with The Cook Political Report.

Old internet gambling foe now an ally

I have terrific breaking news to report. The National Fraternal Order of Police sent Senator Harry Reid, Senator Mitch McConnell, Speaker John Boehner, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi a letter in support of “a strong regulatory framework for legal gaming”! As FOP supported the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, this is significant for us. Click here to read this important letter.

It really would be kinda selfish to hoard all the knowledge in poker, let alone any insight gleaned from all the uninformed and/or misinformed Twitter-fueled forum banter. Things are moving so fast these days in poker it’s hard to keep up, let alone have time to post after filtering through the muck. Actually, that probably explains the continued love/hate in poker for QuadJacks … accuracy shmacuracy, if there’s new hubbub in poker, Zac and Marco and crew are on top of it, and occasionally the middle of it — with informed insiders and ignorant blowhards alike contributing — while SrslySirius makes a rap video.

But a few recent stories of particular significance that might otherwise get buried amid PokerStars/WSOP/WPT press releases, 2+2 NVG threads, and the mashup of Jungleman cheating buzz:

Ring-fenced funds: Full Tilt debaucle explainedALDERNEYCheck out this story in Poker Player Newspaper about a regulatory matter of new relevance called “ring-fenced funds”. It helps one understand a little better why Full Tilt found themselves in tighter straits than PokerStars post-Black Friday (even though PokerStars is the big boy the DOJ most wants) … and leaves one to wonder why senior executives and on-duty attorneys representing both Party Gaming and PokerStars flew in from Gibraltar, Israel, and the United States to observe the proceedings firsthand. Perhaps they thought they were coming in to witness an execution?

Online gambling goes nationalWASHINGTON DC
Big talk all over the internet about a piece in the New York Post that points out how stars seem to be aligning for online gambling legalzation in the US — from the Kyl/Reid letter requesting DOJ assistance in squelching offshore operatives and state initiatives alike, to a Boehner aide taking on a VP role with the American Gaming Association, to a warming friendship between House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Venetian pooh-bah Shelly Adelson.

It all supports my belief that online gambling will indeed be a national issue in coming months (assuming people behind a rumored Senate bill want it to be). There’s no mention, however, of the player-friendly Barton Bill, nor much anything about poker specifically — the writer talks of “gambling” — which suggests this story could be a plant by media operatives for the AGA, who we know, of course, represent Big Casinos and likely have Harry Reid’s office on speed dial. It also supports contentions that the effort to bring back online poker (thanks PPA and Joe Barton!) will likely become a push for full-on legal online casinos as bills move forward.

Nevada regulators prepping for Poker+ …LAS VEGAS/CARSON CITY
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to many, Nevada Gaming authorities are in the midst of sweeping changes to state regulations — with very specific language updates on matters of foreign partners, “suitability”, server location, mobile gaming platforms, slot machine networks, money transfers, tax collection, you name it … The new rules currently taking shape in Nevada touch on just about every issue brought up in the online gaming political sphere over the past five years. Whether revolutionary or standard as far as procedure goes, if you really wanna know what the future of online gambling (and therefore poker) will look like — and/or place your bets on who the corporate winners will be* — follow the public work of the Nevada Gaming Commission and State Gaming Control Board here in coming weeks.